Something strange is still happening in Stepford

Published 5:30 am, Thursday, June 10, 2004

The town of Stepford, Conn., does not exist.

But the state of being Stepford has been around a long time -- even before 1975's The Stepford Wives, whose well-publicized remake opens Friday. pictures:

Both films are set in the fictitious, upscale town, where secretive, tech-savvy husbands turn their independent-minded wives into robotic models of domestic servitude. For such women, being Stepford means wearing sundresses and sunny smiles while devoting themselves to clean homes and happy husbands.

Much the same role was popularized -- without brainwashing -- in the 1950s, as shown by advertisements from the era featured in the remake's credits. And such traditionalism hasn't disappeared. The new movie pokes fun at today's Betty Crockers while firing new volleys in the war of the sexes.

Both films are based on the 1972 book by Ira Levin, who also explored sinister repression of women in Rosemary's Baby. His Stepford protagonists are Walter and Joanna, a married couple with two kids. At Walter's urging they flee Manhattan's pressures for suburban calm, finding a whole town full of suspiciously docile wives serving smug, indulgent husbands. While the men chomp cigars and play cards at their closed-door club, the women rhapsodize about fabric softeners and bake.

"It did some business, but not huge numbers," said Masterson, now a director (The Trip to Bountiful) who lives in New York. "But it's been kind of a cult film over the years. It keeps getting shown on TV and people talk about it. The name has become part of the lexicon."

Costing $90 million, the high-profile remake was hounded by rumors of bickering on the set -- rumors the stars are now busily refuting. But the original had bumpy spots, too.

Its script was by William Goldman, an Oscar winner for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's Men. British director Bryan Forbes (The Madwoman of Chaillot) insisted on tampering with it.

"I'd call Bill when I'd get a new scene (from Forbes) and ask him how to fix it," Masterson said. "The dialogue wasn't American. Forbes had me talking to `chaps' instead of `guys' on the train."

Forbes rewrote so heavily that "Bill wouldn't have anything to do with it," Masterson said. Years later, Goldman "wouldn't even do (commentary for) the DVD because he was so upset."

Masterson thinks that Goldman saw his serious look at feminism being subverted by sci-fi horror.

"Bill considered the story a feminist statement," Masterson said. "He interviewed all the leading feminists of the time before writing the script."

Stepford was an effective chiller, nonetheless, punching up Levin's concept with post-Watergate paranoia and conspiracy. With the women's movement barely past its first bra-burning demonstrations, Stepford showed a fanciful yet oddly credible vision of how traditional men might react.

Almost three decades later, the remake needed a lot of tweaking. Its husbands have the same country-clubbing caveman mentality and mad-scientific sneakiness, but their wives no longer are budding feminists toying with careers. These are women who have achieved professional success -- and how dare they make their husbands feel so small?

Ross' character in '75 was a stay-at-home mom and would-be photographer who had "messed a little bit with women's lib in New York." Kidman's Joanna is powerful head of a TV network, and though a nervous breakdown spurs her family's flight to Stepford, she's not ready to abandon her ambitions.

"In today's world, women can be enormously powerful," said the current screenwriter, Paul Rudnick. "But that still doesn't always sit well with their husbands. So by creating this town of `model' wives and laughing at the notion of it, I was able to give the story a contemporary spin."

Just how well that works is for audiences to decide. Rudnick and director Frank Oz subvert their social satire with absurd comedy, far from the sly, dark humor of the original. But Stepford still shows staying power.

Bette Midler, a co-star of the remake, recently pondered on Entertainment Tonight which women are Stepford and which are not, proclaiming Madonna "not Stepford" but Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen "Stepford."

Martha Stewart seems a combination. Her household perfectionism fits Stepford to a T, but her millions contradict it. After seeing the new film, she almost looks like one of its characters, brought down for having had too much success.

If you'd like to compare, the original Stepford returns to video Tuesday, with a DVD full of interviews and commentaries. Legal snags kept the film off the market until 1997; since then it's had two low-profile releases.

In the '70s the film had better luck on television. It was sold for broadcast and spawned two TV sequels, 1980's Revenge of the Stepford Wives and 1987's The Stepford Children.

Like the new film, the original had a potent ensemble. Paula Prentiss played Ross' confidante, and Tina Louise -- "Ginger" on Gilligan's Island -- played a neighbor. Mary Stuart Masterson, who would become an actress of note (Fried Green Tomatoes), made her film debut at age 8, playing one of her dad's daughters.

Patrick O'Neal had the role Christopher Walken plays now, leader of the town men's association. He had the film's most notorious line: "I like to watch women doing little domestic chores."